This Time Around
by Crimson Cutie
Summary: Yuri isn't your average college student. Unknown to her, she's the reincarnation of someone whose allies and enemies are not only still alive but are now aware of just who she is.
1. Chapter 1

My first completed chaptered fic. It's not that long, only 7 chapters and an epilogue, but for me this is an accomplishment. I have the thing completely written but it can be changed if people point out stuff I messed up. If any one can help me with the grammar I'd appreciate it.

Some of the characters might seem a little OOC, but I like to believe that in 500 years demons can change. If you think Sesshomaru is the greatest ever than you might get a little annoyed. I don't bash him exactly, but I do make a little fun of his character. Yuri is intentionally OOC for the character (like it isn't too obvious) who she is a reincarnation of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and any characters from it which appear or are mentioned.

Chapter 1

Yuri snuck a glance up then quickly resumed looking at her textbook. Good, the little girl was gone. She was half tempted to ask the guy sitting at the next table if he had noticed that pale little girl that had been standing by the bushes. She didn't because, to tell the truth, she was afraid of his answer. She didn't want to hear that no he hadn't or even worse, that there had been no one standing by the bushes. She was afraid his answer would reveal that it had all been in her head. She'd always considered herself to be sane rational person but lately she had begun to wonder, and _that_ was really scaring her. Surely it was a bad sign when a person doubts their own sanity.

It had been years since Yuri had first seen the pale little girl. She could remember a time in junior high when she was suddenly very aware of the girl. Probably she had seen the girl in elementary school but didn't remember because how much the girl really stood out hadn't struck her. It seemed that every so often in a crowd she would pick out a pale little girl. Probably the same person- after all how common was skin so pale it looked lifeless, white hair and dark, dark eyes? And the girl always always was wearing white. Usually she wore a simple white dress, but sometimes she wore an old fashioned kimono.

When she was younger and had seen the girl in crowds Yuri had just assumed that the girl must have lived and went to school nearby. But lately she'd started seeing the child more and more especially on her college campus. Now she was suspicious not that the girl was stalking her, but that the girl was actually just an apparition. Yuri had gradually started doubting the reality of the girl when she noticed that no one else seemed to react to her. Surely with such unusual looks at least one person would be giving her a second glance. Then there was the fact that the apparition never seemed to grow older and apart from changing clothes and that fact the sometimes she held a mirror and sometimes not, never seemed to change with the passing years. And finally and worst of all, Yuri had seen her simply vanish once, not disappear into a crowd but simply be there one moment and then gone the next.

She supposed that the wise thing to do would be to tell someone like a doctor. Perhaps a psychiatrist would lie her down on the couch and, after listing to her say all sorts of random anecdotes, come up with an explanation that the little girl was nothing more than a manifestation of her inner child or secret feelings or some other kind of Freudian junk. It was entirely possible that the little girl only showed up when she was stressed. This would certainly explain why she saw the apparition more often nowadays. Seeing it and doubting her sanity was leading to more and more stress. It was positive reinforcement cycle so things were just getting worse and worse.

Yuri frowned. She was reading her textbook but not comprehending a word as her mind was elsewhere, still thinking of the girl in white. This was ridiculous. She needed to concentrate if she wanted to get her school work done. After reading the same paragraph over and over she gave up. It wasn't worth it. She'd just have to do it later. Instead she pulled the novel she was reading purely for enjoyment out of her book bag. Funny how her mind wandered or she started falling asleep when reading school work but never when reading for pleasure. It was just one of those things.

She went the rest of the day without seeing the little girl. This was pretty common as so far the little apparition had only manifested itself a few times a week. Never had she seen it twice in one day.

The following day she started in good spirits. She had woken up completely retested and refreshed. During her first class her mind hadn't wandered at all during lecture and she took good coherent notes. Her other classes went well too. It wasn't till afternoon then anything odd happened. She had bio lab that day. Apparently this was one of those classes were they would have to collect some data, do some write up and give a formal presentation to the class, what fun. Also they would get to work in groups of three. Even worse the teacher had preassigned their partners. This was where her trouble started.

Yuri listened as her teacher listed off her name and had to refrain from groaning when he listed her first partner. She had worked with Ayumi before and while she thought that the girl was nice enough, Ayumi was really busy so scheduling time to work together was a pain. When the teacher announced that the third member of the group would be Ginta, Yuri didn't see any problem with this but apparently Ginta did. "I don't want to work with her," he announced out to the room. The teacher unsure what to do that an upper-class college student would act to so immature decided to ignore it. He went back to calling names off. Ginta buried his head in notebook refusing to make eye contact with his classmates who were now giving him weird looks. Yuri felt her classmates' gazes as they glanced at her and Ayumi trying to figure out which girl had gotten Ginta so upset.

Yuri felt her cheeks burn as she pretended the handout their teacher had given them needed more scrutiny. She could pretty much guess that it was her that Ginta had a problem with. Every now and then in class she'd notice him starring at her like he wasn't even aware he was doing it. Then he would catch himself and pointedly look away. Once he'd sat next to her. He'd been late that day and it was the only empty seat. He looked so horrified at the prospect that he'd stood their scanning the room for any other seat. Yuri could remember losing her temper and snapping "Sit already!" under her breath. Later the day when the teacher asked them to compare their answers with their neighbor he had pointedly ignored her. Yuri had told herself that he was pissed about the comment but she had uneasy feeling about the guy.

After assigning groups their teacher was nice enough to let them have the rest of lab to get started and set up times to work on the project. Yuri discovered that Ayumi's schedule apparently hadn't opened up any since last semester. She was going out of town that weekend. Ginta _very_ reluctantly agreed to meet with Yuri on Saturday to start on the preliminaries of their experiment, while Ayumi did some research on her own. Yuri had a feeling the only reason Ginta agreed was to avoid making an even bigger scene in front of Ayumi. For the rest of the period they got some work done, but Ginta made a point of ignoring Yuri as much as possible. Yuri barely managed to keep her temper from going off on the guy. She could only wonder what it would be like without Ayumi between them.

Lab had done the trick and by the time it was over Yuri's good mood from earlier had changed into storm clouds. So it was just perfect that she saw _him_. He was sitting at the tables they have outside the business building reading some paper. She did her best to ignore him. She thought of him as the tall man and if he wasn't stalking her, then he was stalking some other girl who went to her school and hung out and the same places on the weekends and oh what the heck she the one was being stalked by him. She told herself it was just a coincidence but to be honest she was just relieved that he wasn't also in her head.

She knew that he was real because she had actually seen him interact with other people. Once, the man sitting next to him had asked him something- the time most likely. And another time a fellow student who was running late for class and not paying attention to where she was going had crashed into him. Yuri had let out a sigh relief when this occurred. It had been the first time she been given concrete proof that she wasn't just seeing things. The tall man was quite handsome, so much so that she'd overheard some of the girls gossiping about him. He had very fine features, not that she was looking and lovely sliver or white hair. Not really a guy that it was such a great tragedy to be stalked by, but she couldn't figure out why her. She thought that maybe she first saw him in late junior high but she wasn't really sure. Before this year she only saw him once or twice a year. If he hadn't stood out in a crowd she would probably have never noticed him. But now she had been seeing him three or four time a week and it was pretty clear that he was stalking her, or someone who was always in the same places as her.

Yuri was tempted to march right up to him and ask him why he was following her. But when she ran the scenario in her head he would only deny and without any concrete proof she would come off as a fool. One of these days she would get her answers. But for now she swallowed her temper for the second time, ignored it and attempted to pretend that everything was normal even though she could feel her world slowly tipping off its axis. All that she needed to make the day complete would be to see the pale girl. If she did she would seriously lose it. Nothing strange happened for the rest of day but Yuri knew in her heart it was only a matter of time.

Please Review.


	2. Chapter 2

I would have had this upearlier in the week but I was having issues uploading it.

Chapter 2

Yuri managed to get through the rest of week with only minor incidents, two more sightings of the tall man but none of pale girl. Still she was not looking forward to working with Ginta on Saturday. She arrived early and told herself that no matter what she would act professional and not go off on the guy. This would probably be easier said then done but she'd do her best. He arrived five minuets late and looked just as weary of sitting at the same table with her as he had about sitting next to her in class. Yuri forgot her promise to herself and lost her temper, "Sit boy. Gees I don't bite." He looked like he very much doubted that. "Look, I know for some reason you don't like me, but since we have to do this project together can we at least pretend to get along. I don't want to be here all day just because you don't want to sit at the same table with me."

He looked ten seconds away from killing her. He really did. For a second she thought that he was going to leap over the table and maim her. There was something very predatory about the way he was looking at her. She wondered if maybe she had gone too far, she didn't even think she went off on the guy that bad.

He sighed and seemed to swallow his rage and with great reluctance took a seat at the table. "What is it with you anyways," asked Yuri when her curiosity got the better of her. He mumbled something and after a "pardon?" from her said it audibly.

"You remind me of somewhat I hate."

Whatever she was expecting, that wasn't it. "What like I act like this person, is that why you don't like me?" She was curious now.

For a second she though it he was going to rip her to bits. She got very nervous and wondered if it was really a wise idea to confront him. He seemed to swallow it but she noticed that he looked everywhere but her when he answered. "Sometimes. It's more like you resemble her. I don't hate her because of the way she acted; I didn't like it…all cocky like she was better than us, when she was nothing but a detachment of a disgusting lowly mess of human and…." He ended his sentence abruptly, paused for a moment and then tried again. "She ki-hurt people that were important to me: my pack, I mean kin, no, my friends. She hurt my friends."

Yuri was taken aback. She didn't have a clue how this person she resembled had hurt his friends but for the sound of things it had been pretty bad. She had thought that he was just an immature jerk; it never occurred to her that he might have real reasons for disliking her. She wanted to reach out and comfort him; he looked so sad. She restrained the impulse because she was afraid he would recoil from her. Instead she said softly, "I'm sure that she will get what she has coming to her."

"She did," he acknowledged with a little humor in his voice. "Actually," he sobered, "I think she got worse then just what was coming to her." Now he sounded almost sad. "It was a long time ago, I thought I was over it, I worked to get past it and move on and then I see you, but you're not her and I need to keep telling myself that."

"Look," Yuri started uncomfortably "if you really can't work with me then maybe we can tell the professor, we can make up some reason like-I don't know we can think of something."

"No," Ginta stared at a spot just past her. "I can do this. I want to do this."

"Okay," said Yuri uneasily. They worked in uncomfortable silence for a little while. Eventually the atmosphere between them became a little better as they shared their findings and decided how the experiment was going to work. But a couple of times she caught him doing his weird stare thing. Once he almost lost it and she noticed that his knuckles were white and he was gripping the table very hard. After a couple of hours they decided to call it a day. They had made some real progress and now they would have to wait for Ayumi to get back so they could compare notes with her. "Thanks for um, working with me. I know it must be hard for you." Yuri felt really dumb saying it, but she felt like she had to say something.

"I'll see you in class," was Ginta's awkward response. He started to walk away then turned around and called to her "Say, Yuri listen, about what I told you…about…I should probably…" His voice faded away and she noticed he was making point of not looking at her again, "Nevermind," he said quickly, "It wasn't important anyway. I'll see you later." She blinked she watch him speed walk away. It was clear that he'd changed his mind or lost his nerve.

The two had met in a public place, some outdoor seating on campus. Yuri was surprised when she noticed that the tall man was sitting just a few tables over. She wasn't so much shocked he was there as how close he was. There had always been a reasonable distance between them. Maybe he was following one of the girls who were sitting on benches a distance she would normally have expected to find him away. Whoever he was stalking, he appeared to writing in a notebook and possibly taking notes from the large book he had open on his table. Maybe he was just a student. Yuri wondered why this had never occurred to her before. He might have a perfectly legitimate reason for hanging around campus. But there was something about him. He didn't give off the impression of student. His appearance was older, more dignified, more like someone who was already in the business world. He could even be faculty.

Yuri was fed up with having some mysterious guy follow her. She marched over to his table put a big fake smile on her face and announced, "Hi, I'm Yuri. I've seen you around campus quite a bit and I thought I'd introduce myself."

He smiled back at her. The smile lit up his face and made his features appear far less cold, "I'm Sesshomaru."

"Am I disturbing you?" she asked trying to emphasize the word 'disturbing' like she suspected he wasn't really reading but watching someone. She had no clue if he got the intended message or not.

"Not at all, have a seat, I was ready for a break." he gestured to the empty chair across from him.

They sat in silence for a few minuets. He was apparently one of those people comfortable with silence who didn't have to say needless things just to cover it up. "What are you reading?" she asked him.

"A law book."

"Are you a lawyer?"

"Yes, I don't currently practice but I like to stay informed."

They sat in silence again. Yuri was unsuccessful working up the nerve to ask him if he was following her despite trying several times. Giving up she stood up and told him, "Well next time I see you don't be surprised if I come over and say hi."

"I look forward to it." Was he mocking her, it was hard to tell. Yuri walked away from him toward the student union. She turned a corner and leaned on the wall. Taking a deep breath she glanced around the corner. He was still sitting at the table reading. Was it possible that she was wrong about him? That he had really had a legitimate reason for hanging around campus? That the weekend meetings were a coincidence? It seemed so incredible but he didn't seem in the least bit phased that she'd approached him. She would have though he'd act guilty; instead he seemed slightly amused with her.

Maybe he'd seen he in all the same places and thought she had a crush on him or something. That made her want to march back around the corner and clear up that. No matter how handsome he was she didn't have a crush on him, well maybe just a tiny one. But she wasn't following him around or anything. She knew that the message would probably get lost in translation and she'd end up sounding like some kind of crazy girl.

She firmly turned her back to the corner and side that he was one and prepared to walk away from the situation before it got worse. She made it one step then stopped abruptly. The apparition was back. It appeared about twenty feet away. This time the little girl was wearing a simple white dress and carrying the mirror. She held the mirror at the level of stomach turned so that the reflecting surface was facing out. Her dark eyes were looking directly at Yuri.

Yuri blinked a few of times trying to clear the illusion from her vision. It didn't work. The little girl opened her mouth but Yuri was too far away to hear what she said. Should she confront this stalker too or would she only look weird confronting nothing. Well, she already risked looking like a total idiot once today, might as well do it again. With more confidence then she felt, she marched over in the direction of the girl.

"Look out," a guy's voice yelled. Yuri turned around in time to see a wild kick of the soccer ball some boys were playing with in the grass narrowly miss another student. She turned back around and saw that the little girl was gone. Yuri walked the rest of the way to where the girl had been standing. She searched behind the bushes, just in case in kid was hiding but she knew it was futile. While she didn't have any proof that the girl vanished into thin air, the kid had left awfully quickly. She wondered if it were possible that the girl had hid and snuck away. She didn't wonder for long though because she didn't like where it was leading.

Since she was on a roll and facing her problems instead of ignoring them she risked looking like a fool for a third time. "Excuse me," she asked the boys playing ball. "This is kind of a random question, but did you notice the little girl holding a mirror that was standing over there?"

One of the guys shook his head but another one said, "The albino kid, yeah I saw her." The third one nodded.

"Thanks," she replied incredibly relieved. Other people saw the kid, she wasn't crazy, and it wasn't just in her head! Of course there was the uncomfortable question of what the kid had been doing on campus but she could worry about that some other time. She'd confronted her stalkers more or less and reaffirmed that she wasn't seeing things. Yuri headed to the library with just a little more bounce in her step. She didn't know that Sesshomaru, still seated at the table, watched her. She also didn't know that he wasn't the only one. From inside a nearby building another pair of eyes followed her.

Thanks to my one reviewer. Any criticism or comments welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Apologizes to my few (very few) loyal readers. I would have updated MUCH sooner but I've had some internet issues and I've spent much of this time offline. So while you've had to wait to read my fic, I've had to wait to read all fics. I also promise that I'll be quicker (than usual) in posting the next chapter.

Chapter 3

For the next few weeks life for Yuri fell into pattern. As the semester really got underway she hit the books and started spending more time studying for tests and writing papers. She and Ginta had managed some sort of uneasy truce. They were on fairly amicable terms and it helped that now they had a third party present when they met. They hadn't told Ayumi the reason that Ginta didn't like Yuri and they were hoping that they wouldn't have too. Every now and then she would notice Ginta looking at her in a way that sent shivers down her spine. But then he would catch himself and give her a sheepish smile.

She often ran into Sesshomaru on campus. She made a point of always going over to see him and saying hi in a rather obnoxious way. She thought he seemed somewhat amused by her antics but he was hard to read. Usually he was sitting a table reading something. Occasionally he'd have a plate of scones with him. He was always polite and would even offer her one. She thought she'd spotted him at various off campus locals but every time she'd tried to approach him, she'd lose him. Yuri brought this up with him the first time it happened. She casually told him, "I thought I saw at WacDonald's this Sunday."

His only reply was a nonresponsive, "Hmm." The following the weekend she thought she saw him at 21 Paradise on Friday night. His response once again was non answering, "Hmm." When she spotted on a Thursday grocery run she neglected to mention it because of the risk of sounding like _his_ stalker. Yuri was annoyed to discover that, in spite of herself, she found she was developing a crush on Sesshomaru. It had to be because he looked so damn pretty. Certainly, it wasn't his personality. She wasn't sure he had one.

The pale girl she saw occasionally, like once or twice a week. One other time Yuri tried to approach and her. That had gone about as well as last time. Once again she had managed to lose sight of the girl; her view had been obscured by people walking past. When she reached the place where she'd seen the girl standing there was no one. Yuri wasn't a hundred percent convinced that the girl wasn't in her head. Perhaps she was a real person but Yuri's subconscious liked some aspect of her appearance and so she saw the girl when there was really no one there. Maybe only ten percent of the appearances were real and the rest were in her head. Mostly Yuri tried to ignore the pale girl.

Yuri was sitting in her room studying when her downstairs neighbor Sakura knocked on her door. "Hey," Yuri greeted. She knew Sakura fairly well and she enjoyed any excuse to take a study-break. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Sakura acknowledged, "I've been really busy though."

"Ah the glamorous life of a pharmacy major." Yuri acknowledged with a grin.

"You know us pharmtards: work, work, work," Sakura agreed using the campus nickname for pharmacy students. "Actually that's why I stopped by, I have a test tomorrow and I suck taking pulses, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being a guinea pig so I could practice."

"Wouldn't you rather practice on the cute boys who live below you?" Yuri teased.

"Hopefully later, they're not home." Sakura blushed. "But I really need to practice. Pleeeease." Her voice got into the whining range for the "please."

"Okay," Yuri agreed. "At least it's not my heartbeat."

Yuri wasn't aware she said the last statement out loud till Sakura asked, "What's wrong with you heartbeat?"

"What?" Yuri asked as she got a chair to sit in.

"You said at least it's not my heartbeat or something. Do you have an irregular heartbeat or something like that?"

"No it's just," Yuri sighed, "This is really embarrassing, but every time the doctor gets out the stethoscope to listen to my heart-I tense. The first time I did it with my new doctor he acted like I was like a little kid-explaining that it doesn't hurt and it's much easier for him to find my heart if I'm not tense. I know it doesn't hurt. I just can't quite relax until he finds it."

"Why," Sakura asked absent mindedly as she searched Yuri's arm for a good place to find her pulse.

Yuri didn't know why she couldn't just shut up but sometimes it's nice to tell things to people and get them off your chest. "I just have this incredibly irrational fear that my heart won't be in my chest. I know it's really dumb. I mean if it's not I'd be dead. There no logical way I could survive without it. Like I said it's totally irrational. It's just little quirk I have. I can't quite relax until I know it's there and I'm safe I'm," she searched for a moment for the right word, "I'm free. It's really important that it's there because he gave it back, the bastard gave it back, and I have it and I'm free and…"

"Yuri calm down," Sakura exclaimed, "Your pulse is racing."

"Sorry," said Yuri, she hadn't realized she gotten so carried away, "What was I talking about," It was weird she couldn't quite remember. She'd been talking about how she tensed when the doctor got out the stethoscope and her irrational fear, that part made sense. But what was she talking about at the end-the words had just kind of come and now that she tried to think about them she didn't even know what they meant. Who was this guy she called a bastard?

Yuri blushed and wondered if Sakura could feel her pulse racing again. This reminded her of something that had happened before. Her senior year of high school Yuri had gone to a party and gotten pretty high. She'd obviously taken some drug but she'd been pretty out of it when she took it and still wasn't sure what was it the pill she swallowed. Yuri didn't remember very much of the night but her friends told her how she acted. Apparently she went on and on for like hours about some guy how much she hated him, how glad she was to be free of him. She'd said some really weird stuff that they couldn't recall but the mysterious guy thing really stood out in their minds. She'd been really out of it though; apparently she also tried to attack someone just by moving her hands and yelling something. She thought she was someone else; she referred to herself by another name. Yuri tried to remember what it was, her friends had told her but she'd forgotten. She'd decided that she didn't like the way she felt when she was high and so far that had been the one and only time she took drugs.

"Thanks for helping me practice," Sakura told her after four times of getting her pulse taken, alternating arms.

"Sure thing. Good luck with the boys, oh and um don't tell anyone what I told you about my heart thing, it's um kinda personal."

"No problem, but it does sound like it would come in handy for those tell one interesting fact about you icebreaker games, like the ones we played freshman year."

"I never though of that." Yuri closed the door and sank down in her chair. Even though she knew it was foolish she reached under her shirt and put her hand to her chest. She located her heart and let her hand rest there feeling the beats. For some reason being able to feel her heart beat in her chest calmed her and gave her something like a sense of empowerment. She sat there for a moment banishing the memories of the unknown fear.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Well I was somewhat quicker with posting this time. I've just started my first real full time (40/hrs a week) job and it's a big change in my free timeseeing ashowI'd been unemployed since I graduated about two months ago. I'm still adjusting, to my new schedule. The scene in this chapter was the first part of this story I saw in my head and actually the inspiration for the whole thing. When it came time to write in this chapter it literally wrote itself.

Chapter 4

"As you can see B, representing the double knock-out, shows a dramatic decrease," Yuri informed an empty room. She was presenting to an empty classroom in Gordan Hall. These rooms provided excellent environments for students to study in at night. Yuri was taking advantage on these on this particular Sunday night to practice an oral presentation she was set to give on Tuesday. "C in this diagram represents the control. Next they looked at the lung samples as you can see here…"

Yuri let her voice trail off when she became aware that there was a guy standing just inside the doorway watching her. The guy was actually kind of cute. He had incredibly clear blue eyes and brown hair. But there was something about the way he was looking at her that was making her uneasy. "I'm going to be using this room for awhile and as you can see I'm giving an oral presentation so if you could find another room to study in," she informed him hoping he would do the polite thing and leave. He didn't. He just stood there. There wasn't something about the way he was looking at her that Yuri didn't like. She wasn't sure what but something was putting her off. She tried again, "Look I was here first and I can't practice with you in the room, and I'm sure there is another empty classroom." He didn't even get an indication that he heard her.

Yuri was about ready to yell "leave" when he finally spoke. "You shouldn't have come back," he told her.

"What are you talking about?" Yuri asked.

"What's the matter Kagura, don't recognize me? It's me, Kouga." There was mocking in his voice but it had a dangerous tone to it. Yuri should have felt relieved that he called her Kagura, that he called her by the wrong name. She could just tell him that he had the wrong person, that he'd mistaken her for someone else. But she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this wasn't the case. For one thing there was something vaguely familiar about him like an old childhood nightmare.

"I'm not Kagura." she told him. "My name is Yuri."

He wasn't listening to her. "You weren't supposed to come back. You not supposed to have a second chance. Who the hell said you get a chance at happiness." He was glaring at her now and shooting her a look of immense hatred.

Yuri could feel her heart thumping hard in her chest. At this moment it gave her no comfort. This was crazy, he had the wrong girl. She had to make him see that; she had to make him leave. "You have the wrong person." She said loudly and clearly. "I'm…not…. Kagura."

"No you're not." He agreed with her, shocking her. "Your name is Masuya Yuri. You were born on April 13 about twenty years ago in a small suburb just outside of Tokyo. You broke your arm when you were seven and you are afraid of snakes." As he made his speech he strolled into the room. Kouga paused to let the implications of what he said sink in. She stared at him unable to comprehend that he knew this stuff, and all this time she thought Sesshomaru was stalking her. She took an involuntary step back.

Kouga gave her a cocky grin. He was clearly enjoying her discomfort. He continued, "You're Masuya Yuri and you're just an average college student. You've never unleashed blades of wind or dance of the dragon. You're a fucking human. You've never made a corpse dance just by waving your fan. You never murdered my pack. You're fucking innocent. Right?" Yuri took another step back keeping her eyes focused on him. He was crazy, she had no idea what he was talking about and he was crazy. "Right?" he snarled at her again.

Yuri nodded. Agree with him she told herself; just don't make him madder. "Right," she agreed with more confidence then she felt.

"Of course, you're innocent. There is no blood on your hands. But it's still on your soul. God, Kagura did you think that it would just disappear. That if you came back as a fucking human with no knowledge of your previous life that you would be free. Did you think that your past deeds wouldn't follow you? Haven't you every heard of karma bitch?"

"I…I don't know what your talking about." Yuri admitted finding her voice. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't obey.

"Of course you don't you're fucking innocent. Well let me enlighten you and break your naïve little bubble. Do you believe in reincarnation? 500 years ago you had a different face, a different body but the same stinky soul. You were called Kagura then. You were a demon, a wind witch hell-spawn of Naraku. He set a trap for me and you were the one who pulled it off. You slaughtered my wolf tribe. You laughed at their deaths. You moved your little fan and made their corpses dance. I swore revenge on you. I swore that Kagura's blood would stain my hands."

Yuri's legs finally obeyed her. She tried to make a sprint to the door. Kouga moved impossibly fast and blocked it. Yuri had to stop so abruptly she almost fell. The last thing she wanted to do was get close to him.

"Oh no, your not getting away from me this time Kagura, I've waited 500 fucking years for my revenge."

"That's impossible," Yuri blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Haven't you figured it out Kagura? I was, I am a demon too." He smiled for her and she could see he had fangs. "A wolf demon." He clarified.

Kouga had waited 500 years and apparently he'd figured a few minutes more wouldn't hurt any. He let the silence hang allowing Yuri to let his words and his threat sink in. It was impossible; she couldn't believe what he was telling her. But there were some aspects of his story that seemed familiar. She would have to wait for her head to stop spinning in order to figure out what they were. In the mean time she searched for loopholes. If she really was this Kagura's reincarnation then that would mean, "Kagura died," Yuri said, "You got your revenge."

Kouga gave her a look that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. "Oh you died alright, but not by my hand. You were a slave to the lowest most disgusting half demon ever to taint the earth with his presence. And you were a traitorous slave loyal to no one, a bitch that didn't even care about anyone but herself. Your master killed you for your disobedience for plotting to kill him. You should have stayed dead. Or come back as a cockroach so I could crush you under my foot. Instead you came back as fucking human, but I can still crush you. I swore that I would get your blood on my hands and fangs and now I have the chance."

He reached into his pocket and threw her something. Yuri caught it. It was a fan. It looked old, like an antique. It was hers. She had bought it from an antique store she'd been in once. Something about the fan had attracted her. She liked the way she felt when she held it posing like a Kabuki dancer. The fan was supposed to be back in her room in a box of mementos. Kouga had been in her room. The idea made her sick. Then she realized that it wasn't her fan, the pattern was a little different. It was similar but hers was probably still safe in her room. Now she held the fan open. Holding it felt too natural, it made her feel like this Kagura person. Hastily she snapped it closed. "How do you know I'm Kagura?"

Kouga snorted. "You think I wouldn't recognize you. You think that after all you did to me I wouldn't recognize you even if you came back as a cockroach. Don't even try and convince me I have the wrong person. I'm not the only one who recognizes you. Why do you think you've seen Sesshomaru and Kanna? They both know it's you." He gave her his predatory grin again. "Ready for our rematch Kagura? Fight me."

Yuri never had a chance. Before she could blink Kouga had reached her. He grabbed her wrist and yanked the fan out of it throwing it across the room. Then he shoved her backwards hard. She hit the wall behind her. Kouga put his hands against the wall on either side of her. Her head was screaming for to the try and run but she was petrified. She probably couldn't have gotten away anyways she told herself. Kouga stood for a little bit with his body in front her and his hands blocking her in. He was clearly enjoying how uncomfortable she felt, practically drinking the fear that ran through her veins. He leaned in, his face mere centimeters from hers and took a deep breath. He leaned back out and with a look of disgust on his face announced, "You still reek of Naraku." Then his hands went to her neck. He lifted Yuri off the ground. She tried to pry his arms off but his grip was like a vice. She feebly swung her legs in an attempt to kick him but things were already going hazy. This was it. She was actually going to die. Yuri thought she heard a wolf cry in the distance.

Suddenly Kouga dropped her. Her raced out of the classroom so quickly that he was chocking her one moment and gone the next. Yuri lay where she'd fallen taking in air in great gulps. Once her lungs had had their fill she climbed shakily to her feet. It suddenly occurred to her that the last place she wanted to be was alone in the room. It didn't matter that Kouga had left. She would later marvel that she had the presence of mind to gather up her papers. She ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast her legs would carry her. She was so concerned with getting out of there that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. So it wasn't a surprise that she crashed into someone just outside the door to Gordon hall. She was afraid to look. She was so scared that it would be Kouga. Here he'd run away and she'd gone and crashed into to him. She was so stupid sometimes. Yuri couldn't help it, she started shaking.

"Yuri? Yuri? Are you alright?" Ginta asked.

Slowly Yuri raised her eyes and found Ginta was gathering the papers that had scattered when she dropped them. Apparently he was the one she'd crashed into. "Yeah, I'm…" Yuri broke off, she didn't feel like she had the strength to lie. Without looking at him she dropped the ground to pick up the rest of her papers.

When they picked them all up Ginta approached her and gave her the ones he was holding. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, "You look pretty shaken up?"

His eyes held so much concern Yuri couldn't look in them. She stared at her shoes. "Will you walk me to my apartment?" She asked. "I…I don't feel safe alone."

Ginta gazed off in the distance for a moment. "Of course," he replied, "Where'd you live?" She told him the campus apartments and they walked in silence. He didn't ask again if she was all right or what was bothering her, something she was grateful for. After she'd reached her door he told her, "I hope you feel better, I'll see you Tuesday in class."

"Thanks." Yuri told him in a small voice. Her heart was pounding so hard when she opened the door to her apartment. Never before was she so relieved to have a roommate. Still she checked her place over to make sure no wolf demons were hiding. Her roommate was already in bed asleep and she was careful not to disturb her. As she got ready for bed she replayed her encounter with Kouga in her head. She didn't want to believe his claim that she was Kagura but she had a bad feeling that it was probably true. She'd have to investigate her claim tomorrow. He seemed so familiar, did she really recognize him from a past life. If what he said was true, then she couldn't even think about it. Had she been a demon and a killer in a past life? The thought made her sick. Kouga claimed that Kanna and Sesshomaru both thought she was Kagura. She didn't know who Kanna was but she could get the truth out of Sesshomaru next time she saw him.

It wasn't till she was lying in bed that she thought about Ginta. It had been nice of him to walk her to her door and not push her for an explanation. Why hadn't she liked him again? _You remind me of someone I hate._ Yuri's eyes shot open. Was he talking about Kagura? _She ki-hurt people that were important to me: my pack, I mean kin, no, my friends._ Yuri's heart started pounding again. What had Ginta really been talking about? He had said: she ki, and then changed it to hurt my pack. Had he started to say _killed_. Did he mean a wolf demon pack? Was he from Kouga's tribe? Yuri could feel her heart pounding under her shirt. Had she really been safe with Ginta?


	5. Chapter 5

AN: So much for keeping a good update schedule. Meh, I've been feeing uninspired lately. This chapter contains spoilers for what happens to Kagura in the manga. I don't actually follow the manga, I know the basic jist of what happens but I'm not sure I got all the details right. If I didn't, tell me and I'll fix them.

You might notice Yuri's friends are named after Kagome's trio, there's no intended relation. I just used the names because I don't know many Japanese names. Originally Sakura in chapter 3 was named Yuka, but I changed it because I thought Yuka and Yuri were too similar sounding.

Chapter 5

Yuri woke up abruptly to the sound of her blaring alarm clock. For once she was grateful, her dreams were disturbing and fretful. In more than one of them Kouga came back and boy was he angry. Then there was one dream he was in that she couldn't quite remember any of the details. Other dreams were vague images of what might have been demons Kagura had killed based on the stories Kouga had told her. For a moment she pretended everything that happened the night before was dream. However, those notions faded when she looked in the mirror. There staring back at her in her reflection was a constant reminder of the previous night. Covering almost her entire neck huge bruises had developed where Kouga had grabbed it. Yuri had the disturbing thought that these bruises would have told the coroner exactly how she died. She banished that thought almost as soon as it had appeared. She had to cover the marks; they would lead to far too many awkward questions. None of her turtlenecks went high enough so she would have to settle for a wearing a scarf all day.

She had been far to stunned to put up a decent resistance the first time. But if Kouga confronted her again Yuri decided she wasn't going down without a fight. First, she would have to determine if she really was this Kagura. If she was then she had to find out everything about this wind demon. Kouga wasn't going to catch her off guard again. Yuri caught a break after her first class. She pulled out her cell and called one of her friends from high school, Eri. Luckily Eri also had some free time. After the obligatory catch up chat Yuri came to the reason she called. "I'm writing a paper on drugs for one of my classes,' Yuri lied, since she wasn't about to go into the truth. "I was wondering what you remember from the time I got high senior year."

Eri laughed, "It's kind of hard to forget, you were so funny."

"Thanks," Yuri replied dryly. "Anyways do you remember the name I called myself."

"Um, I think it was…it's on the tip off my tongue, oh yeah that was it, Kagura."

Yuri felt her stomach sink. "Do you remember anything else like the name of the guy I was going on and on about."

"Nar…Nar…Nar-somehting,."

"Was it maybe Naraku?"

"That was it Naraku," Eri laughed at the memory. "I don't remember much but you talked about how he was always using you in his lame-brained schemes, how he made you fetch some shards or something and making you watch a baby that-something about eye sucking, I'm not sure, you lost me on that one."

"I didn't by any chance mention a guy named Kouga?"

"Kouga, no I don't recall anyone by that name. You did mention someone named something like Sesshomaru. You called Hochi a pompous ass just like that Sesshomaru guy. Then you moved you moved your hands and yelled 'dragon dance' or something." Eri sounded amused.

_Sesshomaru again_, she had to talk to Sesshomaru and determine how he knew Kagura. "Thanks, that was um really helpful." Yuri replied

"No problem, man Yuri, you were something else that night." Yuri hung up the phone sure of her next step, she had to find Sesshomaru.

Given that he was always hanging around campus that task didn't prove too hard. After her afternoon classes she spotted him sitting at what had become his usual table. Yuri marched right up to him planted her palms firmly on the table and demanded, "Why have you been following me? Don't bother trying to say that you're not because I know you are."

To which Sesshomaru looked up from his newspaper and remarked "Because you're Kagura's reincarnation. Scone?" He offered the plate to her.

Yuri sunk into her seat. She felt like someone had taken the wind out from under her. She had been prepared to argue with him. The last thing she expected was for him to agree with her, to admit it right away. She nibbled on a scone while she though what to say next. Sesshomaru studied her for a moment and then went back to his newspaper as if nothing had happened. "So why are you after Kagura?" Yuri asked trying to sound like she really didn't care. "Don't tell me she killed your wolf pack?" Her question came out as a kind of forced joke, but her stomach was turning- she was afraid of his answer.

Sesshomaru looked mildly insulted, "I'm a dog demon," he clarified "not a mangy wolf. Actually, Kagura stole something that belonged to me." He paused then added, "A young girl who was my ward at the time."

"So revenge then," Yuri asked trying to cover up her increasing fear by sounding blasé.

"No, Kagura was acting under Naraku's orders. My grudge was with him only. Besides I got Rin back."

"Rin, was that your charge's name?" Yuri was interested despite herself. She'd never pictured Sesshomaru as willing being some kid's guardian.

"Yes." He looked a little embarrassed. He originally referred to Rin as merely a possession. Yuri guessed that he hadn't meant to say the Rin's name, it was too sentimental and indicated he actually cared for the child. This was Sesshomaru, the discomfort soon faded and he looked as stoic as ever.

"If not for revenge then why are you keeping an eye on me? Was Kagura your enemy?"

"You as Kagura, were only my enemy when you acted as a incarnation of Naraku."

"Naraku's not here," Yuri said hastily, she certainly wouldn't want Sesshomaru as an enemy, Kouga was bad enough. "I haven't met anyone claiming to be him. I'm not acting under his orders anymore." A thought accorded to her, "I'm free," she added finally understanding the significance of that statement. Her hand went unconsciously to her heart.

"No you won't meet Naraku," Sesshomaru acknowledged. "He's gone, his enemies destroyed him."

"So then why are you following me, you never did say?'

Sesshomaru sighed, "I'm sure Kouga told you that Naraku was the one who killed Kagura. Naraku tried to control Kagura, saw her only as tool, one he could use and throw away when he was done with. Naraku created Kagura so he owned her completely. He probably never intended to give her a personality, a desire for freedom. But Kagura had a strong will, she resented the hold that Naraku had over her. One night she obtained shards of the sacred shikon jewel, I think she took them from Kouga, and she offered them to me. She told me I could have them, if I killed Naraku for her." Sesshomaru paused there for a moment. Yuri wondered if was ashamed of what came next, or simply thought this was a good place for a break in the narrative, one never could tell with Sesshomaru. He continued, "the jewel shards gave power to demons-Naraku in particular was obsessed with obtaining them. However, I neither wanted nor needed them. Kagura offered me nothing of value so I turned her down." Yuri could feel her blood broiling. What a jerk, he'd left Kagura to her horrible fate. "Naraku knew Kagura wanted to betray him. He eventually gave Kagura her heart. He told her she was free, free to die that is. He pierced her with his poison. I posses a sword my father left me with the ability to heal. By the time I reached Kagura however the poison had done its work and she was too far-gone. She died a miserable death."

Sesshomaru hadn't actually answered her question of why he was following her but Yuri had figured it out. She managed to hold her temper in check-at least until she confirmed her suspicious. "You've been protecting me. That's why I see you everywhere. You knew Kouga was planning something." Yuri stated.

Sesshomaru nodded. "I was out of town on business yesterday. When I realized Kouga was going to make his move I hurried back. I was almost too late."

Her suspicions confirmed there was one thought that rose to the top of her mind. "I don't believe this," she blurted out then continued, "You're protecting me from Kouga for the same idiotic reason Kouga's hunting me in the first place -something that happened five hundred freaking years ago with someone else. Actually yours is worse cause Kouga's got a genuine reason to be angry I mean she killed his freaking wolf pack. But you- you were too much of a self absorbed asshole to help her when she begged you. You won't even admit now, five centuries later, that the almighty Sesshomaru might have wrong. You won't even admit that you feel guilty. But you do, and it's because of this misplaced guilt that you've been protecting me. I feel sorry for Kagura she desperately needed help and all she had was you. Well I'm not Kagura so I'm not the one you failed and I don't need your help. Even if it did I don't think I could rely on it, so just forget about protecting me and find some other way to get rid of your misplaced guilt." By the end of the speech Yuri had been yelling at him. She stormed away from him.

Sesshomaru caught up with her and roughly pushed her into the wall of a nearby building reminding her of Kouga. He put his face right next to hers and snarled, "Nobody talks to Sesshomaru like that." Everybody was staring at them.

"Hey miss, is this guy harassing you?" asked a nearby teacher.

Sesshomaru had indicated during their conversation that he was a very powerful demon. Yuri had the feeling that if he wanted to hurt her he would find a way to do so later. But for now he didn't seem to want to risk it in front of all these people. "No, no problem," said Yuri readjusting her bag. "Our argument got a little heated." Maybe Sesshomaru wouldn't risk hurting her. After all it would mean lots more guilt that it would take the bastard centuries to admit he felt.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Yuri felt much better after she got over her confrontation with Sesshomaru. Okay so it wasn't smart of her to tell him not to bother protecting her. Even if she thought his reason for doing so was bogus, it was nice to have some protection from Kouga. But yelling at Sesshomaru had been like therapy. It had done wonders for a lot of the nervous energy she'd had since meeting Kouga. It had felt good to get her frustrations out on someone.

She realized that she really needed to talk to Ginta next. She'd gone over the conversation they'd had when they first started working together. She wasn't exactly sure where she stood with him. It was pretty clear he'd known and hated Kagura. But Yuri could remember him saying that he told himself, she wasn't Kagura, and that he had thought Kagura had eventually gotten worse that what was coming to her, which sort of made it sound like he'd actually forgiven the wind demon and didn't hold a grudge. What still bugged Yuri is: what he was doing outside Gordon hall yesterday? Was her bumping into him a coincidence or was he working with Kouga?

Luckily for Yuri, Ayumi, Ginta and her had a meeting that night. They'd run their experiment and divided up the write-up. Now they were meeting one final time to prepare how they were going to present it to their class. She found it hard to concentrate because she was dieing to interrogate Ginta. She noticed that he was very reluctant to make eye contact. Finally they finished. "Hey Ginta can I talk to you for a sec?" Yuri called to him as he walked away.

"Yeah," he asked still seeming reluctant to meet her eyes.

Yuri waited till Ayumi had passed then turned to him. "When you told about the person I remind you of, you meant Kagura, right?"

Ginta raised his head and made eye contact, "Yes."

"You think I'm her reincarnation don't you?"

"I know you are." Ginta frowned. "Let's go find somewhere to sit down and talk about this." He glanced out the window. "Somewhere public." It was too chilly and dark to sit outside so they headed to the campus coffee shop.

Once they were seated at a small table, Yuri asked him, "So when you said her hurt your friends…" She let the question trail.

"She killed most of my pack and eastern pack." He noticed her expression then clarified. "Wolf demon packs."

"So you're a…?"

"Yes," he said opening his mouth so she could see that like Kouga he had fangs.

Yuri swallowed and reminded herself not to lose her nerve. "So did you mean it when you said she got worse then what was coming to her?"

"Yes," Ginta sighed and turned to her. "Look Yuri I won't lie to you. Kagura was a miserable demon. She cared about nothing but herself. She enjoyed and laughed when she slaughtered us. On the other hand she lived her entire short wretched life a slave to a creature even worse then she was, denied the only thing in the whole word she cared about until she finally died a painful death. As far as I'm concerned Kagura got her punishment-what she deserved." He paused. "It never was Kagura's idea to kill us, she did the will of another her entire life. Not to say she had any moral complaints with what she was told to do. But if she had, she would have been made to do it regardless. Makes it hard to justify hating her for what she did." He gave a short laugh. "Hard but not impossible. If I had met you four hundred years ago, I probably would have killed you on the spot."

"What changed?" Yuri asked her hands going to the scarf that covered her neck where Kouga grabbed her.

"Time. I'm old more mature now and I'm able to look at things more objectively. It was a different time then. We were different. There was a time when we valued no life but our own packs. We fought the other demons aggressively and took their land. We slaughtered human villages for meat for our wolves and us. Before we met Kagome I never realized humans were more than just meat. The point is Yuri, we weren't blameless ourselves. In fact the whole reason we fell into the trap was because we were coming to a castle where we thought there were humans whom possessed something we wanted. Had it not been a trap then we would have killed the courtiers and taken their jewel shards."

"Who was Kagome," Yuri asked confused by the unfamiliar name.

Ginta waved away the question "Just somebody we learned so important things from, it's a long story. Would I still like to get my revenge of Kagura? Possibly. But it's a moot point because Kagura died and as far as I'm concerned she'd gone. At first around you I saw Kagura and that made me nervous but I've realized: you're Masuya Yuri. You're someone completely different."

Yuri felt relieved. "Thanks. I'm glad to know that in 500 years you've managed…" she broke off as something occurred to her. "Hey, wait if you're at least 500 years old, what the heck are you doing here studying undergraduate biology?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "Kouga asked me to. I've been keeping an eye on you for him." He admitted. "Last night I was the look out."

"I though you said you didn't blame me."

Was it her imagination or did he redden just the slightest bit. "I don't but Kouga is tribe leader and I do what he asks me." That was sort of disconcerting to learn that she could count on him to provide no protection from Kouga and even might kill her at Kouga's command. "Besides I had some doubts he'd be able to go through with it, last time…" He broke off abruptly. They sat in silence for a little bit. Yuri wondered if he would expand on his last thought, if he would rephrase it or if he stopped because he'd said more than he intended to. He stood up, "If that's all I have a term paper to write."

Yuri had one more thing. "About Kanna, she's the little demon in white right?"

"Yes."

"Is she another one of Kouga's spies, or is she spying for Sesshomaru? Cause I see her a lot and Kouga mentioned her."

Ginta looked thoughtful. "She doesn't work for us or for Sesshomaru. She was Naraku's first incarnation. He's gone so she wouldn't still be working for him. I don't know why she would be following you except, as Naraku's second incarnation Kagura was kind of like her younger sister. Maybe she just thinks of you as family."

After Ginta left Yuri sat at the table for a while thinking. Ginta was right she might be Kagura reincarnation but she wasn't Kagura. Who cares if Kagura was some kind of murder, the important thing is she wasn't. If only she could get Kouga to realize this. She mulled over how she could get Kouga to come to this realization. When she came up blank she pushed the problem to the back of her mind and pulled out her notebook to study for a test she had coming up.

Yuri was so engrossed in her studying that she didn't realize how much time had past. It wasn't until she lifted her head that she was shocked to discover dark it was. The walk to her dorm was would take at least ten minutes. The school prided themselves on how well lit and safe their campus was, but somehow she doubted streetlights would protect her from Kouga should he decide to ambush her. Suddenly she wished she hadn't told Sesshomaru not to protect her. There was nothing she could do about that now. If Yuri had really wanted to she could have found a friend to walk back with or had campus police escort her, but it seemed like to much of a bother. She decided to take the gamble that Kouga wouldn't bother her the night after their first confrontation.

Luckily Yuri was correct in her assumption. Standing just across the street from her building however, was Kanna. The little demon looked as she always did. In the light of the streetlights Kanna's white skin really did made her look like a ghost. A ghost of a little lost girl, Yuri decided as she stared at another member of Kagura's life. Kanna stood unmoving, unblinking with no expression of her face. Her eyes were large and empty. She was dressed in the old fashion white kimono probably looking like she had when Kagura was still alive. Like always when she was holding the mirror at the level of her stomach reflecting surface turned outward. Kanna looked no different then she had the last time she except this time she seemed to be inviting. Yuri had a feeling that if she crossed the street Kanna would not disappear like she had every other time Yuri approached.

Swallowing her nervousness and keeping her eyes on the girl Yuri crossed the street. She stood before the demon she once thought to be a mere apparition at a loss for words. The silence that hung in the air seemed so tangible as if it encompassed all. After of pause Yuri took a stab at breaking the silence. "You've been following me." She stated it not as an accusation, simply as a fact.

Kanna did not respond right away. When she finally spoke her voice came out as the faintest whisper, "little sister." Yuri was the oldest sibling and it was funny to be called little sister especially by someone who looked to be at least ten years younger than her. "Kagura," Kanna stated.

"I'm Yuri." The words sounded funny to Yuri's own ears, Kanna's presence was having an odd affect on her. What Yuri knew as reality seemed far away, a mere dream.

"I can feel souls." Kanna replied her whisper voice making the words sound even more eerie. "You have her soul. You are my sister." Yuri didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to speak several times but closed it without making a sound. Kanna held her mirror out. "Look." At first Yuri saw her own reflection, but only for a moment. Then the mirror went opaque and then another face appeared. Yuri could see some similarities in the woman starring back her but they were not the same person. The woman's face was shaped a little differently, her nose a little smaller and her chin a little pointer. And the eyes, the woman in the mirror had red eyes. Her eyes had such passion and defiance. This is Kagura, Yuri thought to herself, this is the person whom Kouga, Ginta, and Sesshomaura have been talking about.

The face in the mirror changed again. The face shape shifted slightly till Yuri was looking back at her own reflection. The eyes had darkened but the same passion and fire was still in them staring back at her. Yuri could feel her heart beating under her blouse. For just a moment she could feel the passion and fire that was Kagura.. Then it faded and all she saw in the eyes was her own confusion.

"She is in you." Kanna's voice startled her out of her thoughts. "Take care of her." And then Kanna was gone. She simply disappeared. Yuri shivered involuntarily. She hurried to the safety of her own apartment.

Yuri managed to push all of the strangeness of the day to the back of her mind long enough to get through her studying. In all of the excitement she'd completely neglected the oral presentation and now she had less then twelve hours to finish preparing. Yuri managed to use her classes as a distraction and ran on autopilot to get through the next few days. Over the weekend she hung out with her friends and tried not to think about Kagura and what she'd learned.

It wasn't till Sunday night as she lay in bed unable sleep that Yuri allowed herself to think about Kouga. In spite of her angry words Sesshomaru was back at his usual table and apparently she was still under his protection. Yuri had ignored him but she had to admit it gave her small comfort to see her there. Still making Sesshomaru plan his schedule around protecting her wasn't going to work in the long run. Ginta had accepted that she wasn't Kagura, there had to be someway to make Kouga see. Why hadn't Ginta thought Kouga could go through with it-perhaps that was the key? He seemed to indicate Kouga had tried before. Why did she vaguely recognize Kouga when no one else from Kagura's life had triggered any kind of response? That night Yuri had an old nightmare she'd hadn't had for years. When she woke up, Yuri knew exactly where she knew Kouga from and it sure wasn't from 500 years ago. As she lay in bed waiting for dawn she formulated a plan.

AN: I realize that it was incredibly stupid of Yuri to walk alone at night considering she knows Kouga is after her, but I had to get her alone or Kanna wouldn't appear. Next up, the big showdown with Kouga (well sort of).


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Yuri could hear her heartbeat hammer in her ears. She checked her watch. It was almost time. She was standing in an empty third floor classroom. She would have liked to use the same one where she met Kouga the first time, but another student was already using it. Yuri was just glad that that this classroom had been unoccupied. Studying in classrooms was very popular with the students. Yuri had though that they would make an excellent place to meet Kouga again and if she hadn't been able to find an empty classroom she might have had to postpone her plan. She paced the room and glanced at her watch again. Just one minute left to kill.

Sesshomaru had agreed to leave her unguarded. They'd worked it out a precise time so she could be ready. He hadn't wanted to do it. But Yuri didn't think he really wanted to spend the rest of her life guarding her. And she certainly couldn't spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder for Kouga. She'd have to confront him eventually and sooner would be better for her nerves than later. Apologizing to Sesshomaru had been a pain and some of what she said had been a flat-out lie. She still though most of what she'd said had been deserved and it was down right big-headed of him that he didn't apologize to her since some of his actions were uncalled for, but the bottom line was-she needed his help if the plan was going to work.

Yuri took a deep breath silently wished herself luck and then struck her pose. She held her fan in front of her. It was the same one that Kouga had given her so he could knock out her hands. She'd had to claim it from lost and found but holding it in her hands helped her get in character. There appeared to be a whirlwind and then suddenly Kouga was standing in the doorway. The look on his face and the way he almost took a step back told her she had gotten the pose right. Heart hammering Yuri tried to keep her fear from showing. She greeted him with a simple "Yo" opening the fan with practiced ease.

"Kagura," Kouga greeted in a low growl. "You're Kagura." he sounded sort of surprised and she guessed he looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Her only response was to sweep her fan to the side as she called out "Dance of blades."

He actually moved-ran quickly to the side as if dodging something. But nothing came. He realized this and stared at her. He was trying to figure her out, she realized. "Kagura," he repeated unsure. For all of his angry speeches, no matter how many times he called her Kagura, he hadn't really expected for her to become the wind demon. He was never planning on meeting his old adversary like this. In spite of the futility of her attack, she noticed that his legs were tense as if he was ready to dodge again.

Yuri closed the fan and tossed it away. It landed on the nearby desk just as useless as it had been in her hands. She relaxed, shifted her weight slightly and came out of her pose. "No, I told you before- I'm Yuri."

He digested this, frowned and announced, "That attack, you were Kagura. You are Kagura-you must remember."

"I don't remember anything. Sesshomaru helped me. He told me how to stand, what to say, and how I should hold the fan. It didn't come natural-I was just playing a part. I did it to prove a point. That's it's what you want. That's why you gave me a fan last time. You want a rematch, you want to beat Kagura." Yuri looked him straight in the eyes, "But that isn't going to happen."

Kouga laughed. "Oh really, do you honestly think you can beat me." He was mocking her. His eyes were searching hers for any sign of fear. "If Kagura didn't have her fucking fan and feathers she would have been easy prey. How much of chance do you think you stand? I beat you rather easily last time."

Yuri refused to let her voice waver even a little, "What about the time before that." There- there was some recognition in his eyes. She was on the right track. She let that subject drop for the moment and continued her original point. "I mean Kagura is gone. You can't get your revenge on her. You're certainly capable of beating me, but that isn't the same thing."

"You have her soul," he insisted. "I kill you she dies."

"And she'll probably be reincarnated again. Are you going to go on killing all her reincarnations, or will killing me give you the justice you think I owe you. Will that even up the karmic balance?" She paused for moment then continued with the speech she'd worked out ahead of time in her head. As she continued her voice became more forceful and even demanding. "Speaking of karma: it's been over four-hundred years since Kagura died. Don't you find it odd that it took that long for her be reincarnated human? Don't you think it's possible that whatever bad karma she had coming she received already. How do you know that our soul wasn't first reincarnated as a cockroach hasn't worked its way up the karmic ladder? You had a genuine case with Kagura but what gives you the right to judge me? I didn't kill your wolf clan. I don't have any knowledge or memory of it."

Kouga didn't say anything. He wasn't even looking at her. It was nice to know that like Ginta he was also capable of learning something in five-hundred years-just maybe a little more stubborn. Time to go in for the kill. "Why now? Why did you suddenly decide to approach me my senior year of college? It isn't like I'm any guiltier of killing your pack now than I was the first time we met."

"I just tracked you down. We've never met before." He lied. Yuri gave him a highly skeptical look. "Ginta," he muttered angrily under his breath.

"It's not his fault. I knew that something was up from the first time we met. You look vaguely familiar."

"That's because you're Kagura," he muttered.

"I thought that might be the reason after you explained everything to me-but it didn't make sense. I don't recognize Sesshomaru or Kanna and both had a larger impact on Kagura's life than you. No Ginta might have helped me trigger some memories but sooner or later I was going to figure out why I recognized you." Yuri took a deep breath and then said in an accusatory tone, "You kidnapped me when I was six." She paused for a moment and then told the story, reliving the memory in her mind. "Mom always thought I just wandered away from her, she lost me in the store and found me hours later hiding under a clothes rack, but that wasn't what really happed. The man lured me away. I didn't understand what was really going on at the time but for some reason I never told anyone the truth. It was you. I remember now. I used to have dreams about that day. I used to see your face in my nightmares."

Kouga didn't confirm her story, but he didn't deny it either. Instead he stared at a spot just behind her to avoid looking in her eyes. "You must have been planning to kill me then-to get your revenge. But you couldn't go through with it because I was just an innocent child. What's changed since then? I've grown up but I'm not anymore guilty." Kouga opened his mouth, probably to speak but whatever he was going to say died in his throat. She could tell by his actions that her words were having the intended affect. She was playing on all the doubts that had stopped him years ago and he was still wrestling with. She was taking advantage of the fight he'd had with whatever morals he'd developed over the years. Some part of him was ashamed at what he'd been planning to do, had been too ashamed to kill an innocent child. The proud warrior facing off against Kagura that she'd encountered from the other night was losing. She was making him see that the reasons he'd used to convince himself this time around were lies. She still wasn't Kagura, she'd never be Kagura.

"You want your revenge on Kagura. You want to end Kagura's life. Screw the fact that it was already ended centuries ago. Forget the fact I'm not her. Forget the fact what ever karma is on this soul is between God and I. You want it to end I'll let you end it. If you really believe it will bring you resolution go for it. I can't live my life looking over my shoulder for you so I'll let you do it. It won't really accomplish anything, but I refuse to live in fear. Don't worry about Sesshomaru I've asked him not to intervene. It's not fair to have him spend the next eighty years scheduling his life protecting me. One way or another, this ends tonight. I'll just close my eyes and just wish for better luck next time we get reincarnated. So if you really think you it will get you your long await revenge, do it." And in spite of the little voice telling her that she was being stupid she closed her eyes. She counted to five hundred in her head before she dared open her eyes. When she did the room was deserted. A triumphant smile on her face she retrieved her fan confident she could get on with her life.

AN: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out. The simple reason is although this chapter had been written for a long time, I hated the ending, it just didn't seem realistic. So I delayed in posting trying to think of some plausible way to resolve the conflict I'd created (that didn't involve Kouga killing Yuri, which, while probably the most realistic ending, is not how I wanted the story to end). I finally sat down attempted to rework the ending and came up with this. I'm not entirely happy with it, but at least it's an improvement on the original. If you can think of a suitable ending feel free to suggest it in your reviews.

The story had an epilogue, which I'll post in a few days along with an author's note with some random notes and explanations about the evolution of this fic (which no one probably cares about.) and thank you's to my reviewers.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

The following day Yuri asked her friends if they wanted to go out for pizza after classes. When asked the occasion she just smiled and responded "a little celebration of something." She was somewhat concerned when Ginta showed up for class. Afterward she was able to corner him in the hall. "Did Kouga say anything? She asked nervously.

"I'm officially relieved of spying duty." he informed her.

"Then why…"

He grinned ironically, "Well I'm only one and half semesters from a Bachelor of Science degree I'd be silly to drop out now." Yuri somehow doubted someone who lived for five hundred years would need a bachelor's degree. Heck, he probably already had earned one, although he would have a hard time convincing employers he graduated in sometime like the 1800s. He shrugged "I'm enjoying biology. Think I could get into grad school?"

"Well if they don't accept you could always work for a year and then reapply. "Something tells me you've got the time." She joked. Ginta nodded.

Well that was one phantom from Kagura's past down. Now to deal with the less pleasant one. Sesshomaru wasn't at what Yuri had come to think of his table. Now that it had gotten cold he was sitting inside the campus coffee shop looking pained at all the noise. She sat down next to and politely declined his offer of a scone, she didn't really care for them. "I just want to say, thanks for last night. For leaving me unguarded so I could see Kouga again and for teaching me Kagura's mannerisms." Yuri smiled remembering, "You should have seen the look on his face."

"Your welcome," he sounded smug but she chose to ignore it.

"I also wanted to say that it's over. I don't think Kouga's coming back and even if he does I'll just have to talk my way out of it. I lost my temper at you but I did mean what I said about your reasons for guarding me being well idiotic." She plunged on quickly before he could take offense. "What I mean is I don't want you to guard me because you fell you owe Kagura something even if your to stubborn to," whops not supposed to go down that path. She took a deep breath and tried again "I mean I don't want you to guard me because of Kagura. It really doesn't make anymore sense then Kouga trying to kill me for something she did. I'm not her. Her soul might be in me but I have to find my way in this world on my own. So I'm saying goodbye. I mean I can't stop you from protecting me and you can do what you want but I just wanted you to know that I think you should move on with you life and I'll more on with mine." She stood up. Sesshomaru wasn't saying anything just looking at her with the damn unreadable expression on his face. She felt like she should add something so she added "and um thanks for the scones."

Admittedly her exit would have been cooler if she had been looking where she was going instead of focusing on looking cool, and not crashed into another student, but still Yuri thought she pulled it off well.

* * *

After her celebratory pizza things went back to normal. True to his word Yuri still saw Ginta in classes but she mostly ignored him. When their last semester rolled around they didn't have any classes in common although she still saw him around the science building. Whether their lack of common classes was intentional or not she wasn't sure but she didn't waste anytime thinking about it.

In spite of Yuri's words she saw Sesshomaru braving the noisy coffee shop many times. She made a point of never going over to him but she did catch him looking at her. She also saw him a few times at off campus locals. It bothered her that he hadn't listened to her, but she was determined to ignore him. His sighting eventually became less frequent. Once she had thought they stopped all together because she didn't see him for a whole month. But there he was once again. She figured that she would probably see him about as often as she had when she was growing up. Once when the sighting had grown less frequent she caught him looking at her with this incredibly wistful stare on his face. Only then did she realize what this had been about. _He'd liked Kagura_. The bastard had had feelings for the wind demon that was entirely possible he still wouldn't admit. And he was just like Kouga; he wanted Yuri to be Kagura so that he could take care of some unfinished business. But of course she wasn't and thus his wistful-what could be stares. Yuri couldn't help but be a little shocked by these revelations. She found herself wondering how long demons lived. If he kept this denial up it would be at least a thousand years before Sesshomaru sorted out all of his problems, and that's if he was lucky.

Yuri also continued to see Kanna about as frequently as she had before this year. Kanna never seemed to be beckoning her and she never bothered trying to approach the demon. Yuri had gotten angry at both Kouga and Sesshomaru for wanting her to be Kagura. But she never felt that way towards Kanna. Something about the unnerving demon made it hard to get angry. At least Kanna was unobtrusive and she no longer had Yuri doubting her sanity. She figured that she would probably see Kanna for the rest of her life, from a distance-the demon patiently watching over her sisters' soul. Sitting on a bench killing time before class she spotted the girl one day and watched her out of the corner of her eye. There was something lonely about the little demon, she concluded. Yuri had decided to separate her life from Kagura's and avoid contact with people from the wind demon's past. Kanna was the only one who tempted her to break this rule. She couldn't help but wonder if the little demon needed a friend.

As Yuri's sightings of her various stalkers grew less frequent life went on. She herself was occupied with getting into med school, finishing up her credits to graduate and of course enjoying senior year. Some days she found herself wondering about her soul, about what Kagura's life had been like. But mostly she worried about living her own life. She still tensed when the doctor got out the stethoscope and went to listen for her heart. And she was still relieved to find it in her chest where it belonged, signifying that she was not a heartless (literally and perhaps figuratively) wind demon named Kagura but that she was a human woman named Yuri, who was scared of snakes and dreamed of being a doctor.

END

Random Notes:

I decided to base how much my reincarnation would be like her 'original' soul and be able to remember about her other life on the theory (or is it fact) that Kagome is a reincarnation of Kikyo. Kagome didn't recognize any of the important people of Kikyo's life, Kaede and Inuyasha. And I would argue Kagome isn't Kikyo, they're not the same person just in two different forms, they don't look identical either.

So I made it so Yuri didn't recognize her stalkers. Yuri was originally supposed to be more Kagura like, but since I didn't know to write Kagura in character, she evolved into her own character. Eventually that became sort of the moral of the story so to speak. Establishing that Yuri wasn't just Kagura was essential in resolving her of the blame of Kagura's past crimes.

I admit that in my original vision had another chapter with Naraku coming back and Yuri becoming Kagura, a Kagura still indentured to him destined to the same fate as a slave and to make the same mistakes until she is saved by an unlikely savoir (kinda). It was a cool idea but I couldn't get it off the ground because I couldn't overcome the practical hurdles of how Yuri could become Kagura and a demon, how Naraku came back after I'd established he'd been defeated, and how Kagura was still indentured to him if she had her heart. When I got towards the end I still hadn't resolved these issues and Yuri miraculously becoming Kagura flew in the face of what I'd just hammered into the ground with the Kouga confrontation, so I dropped it and instead came up with a nice happy ending, well happy for Yuri at least. If there is interest and if there I can work out the problems I might use the idea to write a oneshot about a Kagura reincarnation (with different reincarnation rules) and Naraku coming back.

I am aware of the fanfiction meaning of yuri but when I chose the name I just didn't think of it. I originally named my main character after a Kagura-reincarnation in a different author's story. It was a working name that I planned to change so as not to copy someone else's work. Yuri was the name of a one episode character in another anime. I thought it was a pretty name so I decided to use it. I'd forgotten its other meaning. Yuri's last name was the last name of one of the collaborators on an article I used for a term paper, so she is named after a Japanese scientist working with developmental genes in zebra fish.

A big thank you goes out to my reviewers, Juliakaze, Kah'T.ASTROPHUCK, Ocean Siren, RamblingPhilosopher, NijiHana, Yuubi, KahT, wind-yokai, Lyn Dulce, and 3karen3 for their wonderful words, encouragement and patience with my delayed updates.


End file.
